New guy from LA, considering a few alternatives

[terri]

Hello everyone!<br><br>My name is Terri and I have a feeling that finding this forum at this time has been quite a blessing to me... <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"><br>I live in the Los Angeles area and would love your feedback on this: I was recently laid off... I worked very hard during these past few years without taking a vacation and am now considering taking a year off work and traveling a bit..... to relax a lot and find again within myself the joy that comes with truly feeling alive and free.<br>I plan on buying an old, reliable diesel truck and putting a camper on it, making it nice and cozy for sleeping in during my travels...<br>My idea would be to leave my current, rather expensive (all apartments are in LA) apartment and find some sort of cheap living quarters/space for my vehicles (car and truck) which will be my base for storing my belongings and living in in between trips, thus minimizing unnecessarily high rent expenses during this "sabbatical" of mine.<br><br>I am not sure though what to look for as a place suitable for my purposes (storage/temporary living quarters) and it is in this area that I would much appreciate some feedback from you guys. That is, what to look for, where, how?<br>I'm quite new to all this and will very much value your suggestions.<br><br>By the way, should I take this to a subforum and start a thread there? Many thanks....<br><br>Terri<br><br>

 

[Timocracy]

While your probably in a different situation and country to me. I've always regretted storing my stuff. So this time I sold everything, I got about $2000 cash and saved $3000. With that five grand I can get new better stuff when I came back.

I keep my other full set of furniture in a rental house, it's nice so I get better tennants, they pay extra and I save on storgage. Even if they wreck everything within a year I'm better off.

So in total I only have 1 tea chest of documents/Important stuff that I store at my mum's.

 

[akblack10]

Terri, &nbsp;I am by no means an "expert" concerning all things related to life on the road. &nbsp;Many members have far more wisdom than I, &nbsp;but.... I did the following a few years ago;<div>-In 2010, I sold a big expensive "lie of an American Dream" Home and put all important belongings in a small storage unit.</div><div>-I put my Bigfoot Truck Camper on my Diesel F350 and started to live pretty much full-time in it!&nbsp;</div><div>-I do have a 20 acre piece of property in Kentucky that serves as my home base where I can park the camper and my mail goes to my brother's home in Ky (next to the 20 acres) so he can fwd it to me every few weeks.</div><div>-I am currently on the road in what I am calling The WanderLust Adventure 2012.... info in my blog, address below,</div><div><br></div><div>www.apocketfullofwanderlust.blogspot.com</div><div><br></div><div>I recommend you put things in a Storage Unit, get a truck and camper or a Van and hit the road! &nbsp;Things are just things, don't be tired down because of stuff.... it will store well! &nbsp;Just go....&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Good Luck,&nbsp;</div><div>-AK</div>

 

[sl1966]

Hi Terri!<div><br></div><div>I'm about halfway through eating my elephant and once finished, will be hitting the road myself. If you have the means and time, do it! As you prepare this is a great place to get your questions answered or at least pointed in the right direction.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Steve</div><div><br></div>

 

[terri]

Thank you guys for your feedback, much appreciated...<br><br>Well, I wasn't thinking in terms of living a whole year out of a truck with camper, but rather of having a home base where to both keep all my stuff and live in in between trips.<br>I find the prospect of living exclusively out of the truck for a whole year rather scary at this time...perhaps it is just a matter of getting used to the idea of it, and also of experiencing, step by step, what it can be like in practical terms, which I have never done before. So it would really be too big of a leap for me, at this time, to go from being used to live in a city apartment with all amenities to immediately embracing full time living in a truck.<br>I'm thinking more in terms of garage space with small living quarters, perhaps even in a commercial area to keep the rent low (I have no idea), or perhaps even of some land as in akblack10's case with some sort of roof for both myself and my two vehicles... I have a classic, old car I've worked so much on for so many years, basically irreplaceable, and certainly don't want to sell it... And I like the idea of having a place with a roof to live under, with a small bed and stuff, when I come back to my home base in between trips.<br>It could mean the difference in expenses between a $1,500/month city apartment and a place that could cost me just a few hundreds per month in rent, even if it has to be in a secluded area. I just don't know what to look for/how to find such an arrangement. Hence my asking here for ideas.<br>

 

[judycmomx6]

<P>Welcome Terri! I too have not taken the fulltime plunge yet, but like you, I have things I will need to store and I am also planning on getting a storage unit. Also, you might want to take a look at Blkjak's conversion thread, he has a storage unit that he has converted into a type of little retreat of sorts that he stays in sometimes. You might consider this for yourself, although I'm not real sure how he does it without anyone knowing. I'm sure if you asked him he would tell you exactly how to do this.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <A href="handmadejewelrybyjudy.blogspot.com" target=_blank>handmadejewelrybyjudy.blogspot.com</A></P>

 

[blars]

There are much cheaper places to live not that far from LA.&nbsp; Palmdale, Victorville, Hesperia, etc.<br><br><br>

 

[kentuckywest65]

<P>Welcome Terri!</P>

 

[stillcan]

<p>Welcome!!</p>

 

[Guest]

Welcome Terri...glad to have you with us.....<br>Bri<br><br>

 

[KatieinKansas]

<font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hi Terri and welcome..</span></font><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm doing the same thing that you're doing regarding living in a van while exploring what's out there, but also keeping a home base. &nbsp;At this time, I plan on taking a trip here and there, and then having a base where I can come home too. &nbsp;Almost a year ago, I moved out of the house that I lived in for 20 years. &nbsp;I knew that I wanted to be surrounded by nature as much as I could. &nbsp;And that was a major step for me. &nbsp;Now, I'm renting a house. &nbsp;I plan on moving out when my lease is up June 1. &nbsp;It doesn't make sense for me to stay in this house and pay a lot in rent, when I plan on being on the road for long periods of time. &nbsp;So I'm going to find a cheap place to rent also. &nbsp;I have a friend who is moving out of her house June 1 also. &nbsp;We may rent a place together, and that would be my base. &nbsp;We've seriously considering this possibllity. &nbsp;I'd pay a third of the rent since I wouldn't be there much. &nbsp;This would be an inexpensive way for me to have a base. &nbsp;I'd have to get used to sharing a house with someone, during the time that I'm there, but I could also sleep in my van in the driveway when I wanted. &nbsp;I'm easing into this slowly and have a lot to learn. &nbsp;...And boy is this a fun kind of learning! &nbsp;This is a great group of experienced lovers of the outdoors, and they are great teachers. &nbsp;I'm learning a lot from them, and it sounds like you are too.</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Katie</span></font></div>

 

[SheketEchad]

<span style="font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Welcome Terri!</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><br></span></div>

 

[akrvbob]

Hi Terri, I am camped on BLM desert land outside of Victorville with another vandweller. I'm just a couple hours from you on Interstate 15. You are always welcome to drop in and we will talk vandwelling!! Bob<br>

 

[terri]

Thanks everyone for welcoming me and for your input! <img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"><br><br>akrvbob: thank you for the invitation; if you were at a closer location, I'd be delighted to pay you a visit and chat with you and the other fellow about vandwelling...but that 4-hour round trip is a bit much for me at this time....<br>I'm sure we'll meet in some other occasion. Looking forward to it.... <img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"><br>

 

[sl1966]

Terri - Make a note of this to reflect back on. Your concept of travel time will change greatly once you make this lifestyle change. I haven't gone the full monty yet (paying off bills to become debt free), but have experienced it and it's one of the great feelings you derive from this.<div><br></div>

 

[terri]

@sl1966<br><br>So are you saying that time and money will become non-issues? A 200-mile round trip, as that was the case, would require around 10 gallons of diesel fuel @ $5.40 per gallon = $54 approximately...making it a pretty expensive chat, plus the 4 hours of driving involved...<br>But perhaps it appears to be so to me at this time only because I'm thinking in terms of getting there, talking, coming back....rather than getting there and staying there a few days, enjoying the experience and the surroundings, which could be possible if I had already embraced the lifestyle and had a suitable vehicle to live out of.<br><br>

 

[sl1966]

You got it! Yeah I didn't mean to insinuate that one views of the cost of gas cavalierly then. That's still an expense.<div><br></div>